Tennis coach takes 10K

Gary Marable went to school Saturday of the Memorial Day holiday weekend to recuperate.

The science teacher and tennis coach had to be at Canyon High School by mid-morning for a teacher's work day to wrap up the 2000-2001 school year.

Working may have been the easiest thing Marable did Saturday. Prior to reporting to school, the 47-year-old Albuquerque, N.M., native won the 10-kilometer run at the eighth annual Lone Star Paper Chase.

"I've got to get up to the school," Marable said after winning in a time of 36 minutes, 40 seconds. "They were nice enough to let me come here and run first. It actually won't be too bad. We've just got to turn in grades, and we're going to eat tacos and fajitas for lunch.

"I'll have to go to school today in order to get some rest."

Marable was one of five runners to finish the 6.2-mile road race in less than 40 minutes. Charles Hennessey, a 41-year-old Amarillo dentist, finished second overall for the second consecutive year, this time in 37:18. The other three runners to go under 40 minutes all were in the 15-19 age division: Dru Cirio of Boys Ranch (39:47), Ray McKenzie of Tucumcari, N.M. (39:51) and Roland Resendez of Amarillo (39:52).

In direct contract to the experienced Marable, who began running competitively while attending college in the 1970s, the female winner was 15-year-old Amarillo High School freshman Katie McOmber in 46:08. While Marable has run in the Paper Chase every year, it was McOmber's first 10K. She did have some experience on her side, though. Her father, Stan McOmber, is a former collegiate distance runner for Montana State.

Two Amarilloans finished second and third among the women. Forty-year-old Carolyn Stoll was timed in 46:47 to edge Carmen Haworth (46:48), who is exactly half of Stoll's age.

Marable, after being cut from his high school basketball team, grew up a tennis player in Albuquerque and played collegiately at Amarillo College and Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene. While at Hardin-Simmons, he entered the Turkey Trot road race held each year around Thanksgiving.

"That's where I got hooked on running," said Marable, who had won his age division of the 10K Paper Chase but never had been the overall winner.

As he carved out a career as a tennis coach - including a stint at West Texas A&M - Marable began to make competing in triathlons and road races his top competitive activity instead of playing tennis.

"I don't play tennis competitively anymore," Marable said. "It's too hard on my knees. I can withstand running, because it's the same movement, better than moving from side to side like you have to in tennis. That jars my knees pretty good. Tennis is such a power activity that it's tough on your cartilage.

"Another reason I run more now is because I played tennis competitively, and it's hard to take a step down as far as your level of competitiveness. With running, I started later on so I was building up instead of coming down from playing at a higher level."

But tennis gave Marable an endurance base to launch his competitive running career.

"When I was younger, we'd play as many as eight or nine sets of tennis a day," he said. "We'd play all morning, stop and each lunch and then play all afternoon. That gave me a head start on having endurance for running."

Marable, who cross trains by running, swimming and riding bicycle, has made running a family activity - although the entire family doesn't run together competitively. His oldest children, Eric and Jennifer Marable, are in college, and Jennifer runs collegiately for Texas Tech. Gary and his wife, Ginger, also have twin 12-year-old sons, Ian and Blake.

"My wife runs, but I can't get her to race," Gary Marable said. "She calls herself our equipment manager. She runs with us just for fun. Running is a good family activity."

Marable's time Saturday (36:40) was off his personal best of 36:16 posted two years ago, but he was satisfied.

"I would like to have been under 36, but that may not have been realistic," he said. "I felt maxed out when I crossed the finish line. To add 24 seconds in two years of aging isn't bad. This was a good time for me."